New Life
by Gozilla
Summary: (AU) The Elric brothers had finally found the philosopher's stone. In the transmutation to restore Al’s body, something went very wrong. Will the Elric brothers live to start their new lives?
1. Default Chapter

**New life**

By Gozilla

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!

Please excuse my poor English. -

Reviews are most welcomed!!

Enjoy!!

A/N: This is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic. Please feel free to review and comment!

Summary: This is an A/U fic. The Elric brothers had finally found the philosopher's stone. In the transmutation to restore Al's body, something went very wrong. Will the Elric brothers live to start their new lives?

Flashes after flashes of lightning filled the large living room of a deserted mansion. In the middle of the living room, Alphonse Elric, in his armoured body, lied in the centre of a large alchemist pattern. The pattern was emitting blindingly bright lights.

Edward Elric, on the other hand, stood just outside of the pattern with his hands in the clapping position. But instead of the usual forming of an alchemist pattern by clapping his hands, Edward held a shining red stone between his hands. With his eyes closed, Edward concentrated all his energy to guide the tremendous power hidden in the red stone towards the alchemist pattern.

It was the scene which the Elric brothers had been dreaming for over the past six years. Only three days ago, they had successfully defeated the monstrous Sins and got a piece of the legendary philosopher's stone without any of the military people knowing (so as they thought). But it did not come without cost. Edward was badly beaten in the battle. He got a few cracked ribs, a number of deep cuts, and countless bruises all over the body. Even his auto mail arm and leg were seriously damaged and barely functioning.

Despite the Al's persistent pleads for his brother to wait until he recovered from the injuries, Edward insisted to return to their homeland, Rizenbul Village, immediately. He did not want to perform the human transmutation anywhere other than their homeland. He simply did not trust anyone... apart from the Rockbell's.

Three days later, the Elric brother finally arrived at their homeland. Sore and exhausted, Edward reluctantly agreed to Al's suggestion and went to Winry's home first.

"I still think it is not a good idea." Edward murmured as he limped along the road.

"Niisan, you need to rest! Look at you! You are about to collapse at any moment!" Al argued. In fact, he was very worried about his brother. Over the past three days, they had been rushing to return home without any proper rest.

Edward was still wearing the same bandages Al had roughly put on in a rush before they catch the first train of their three days journey. He refused to let Al to change them on the train as it might attract unwanted attention. He simply wore an ankle-long robe to hide his injuries and the bandages.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I am fine..." just before Edward could finish the sentence, his auto mail leg suddenly stopped functioning and he fell to the ground, face down.

"Niisan!!" Al rushed to help Edward to get up.

"Stupid auto mail!" Edward cursed, rubbing his nose. Soon he found that the auto mail leg had broken down completely. "Winry is definitely going to kill me for breaking her 'beloved' auto mail again."

Without warning, Edward was being lifted by a pair of strong cold arms. "Ah!! Al, what are you doing? Put me down! I am not a baby! I don't need anyone to carry me around! Put me down!"

"Niisan, I am not putting you down. You are in no condition to walk like this." Al stated in determination, leaving no room for discussion. "I need to properly clean your wounds and re-dress them once we got to Winry's home."

Edward was surprised to hear the tone of determination in his brother's usually very gentle voice. Knowing that his brother was just trying to help him, Edward relaxed in his brother's armoured arms and smiled in defeat, "All right, all right. You win."

As Al walked towards Winry's home, the brothers shared a peaceful moment. Al walked as gently as possible in order to avoid disturbing his brother's wounds. Edward, on the other hand, enjoyed the rhythmic movements of his brother's walk and slowly falling into sleep due to exhaustion and his injuries.

Edward was about to fall asleep when the soft voice of his brother woke him. "Niisan?"

"What is it, Al?" Edward asked. No matter how tired or how busy he was, Edward was always willing to listen to his only brother whenever he wants to talk.

"Niisan, I know I sound silly. But I really wish that time could stop right now." Al whispered in his timid voice.

"Why?"

"It is so peaceful." Al looked up to the clear night sky and the stars as he continued to walk, "It is like a dream. No battle, no army, no searching for the philosopher's stone. Just you, Winry, grandma, me, and our homeland. I wish we could just stay this way forever."

Edward smiled at his brother's words. Though he would never tell his brother, it was the same dream he had been fighting for since that faithful day.

Edward put his hand into his left pocket and felt the small stone inside it. "Al, I assure you that your body will be restored very soon. I am sure that your dream will come true. I promise." Edward gave his brother a confident smile.

"Yes," Al replied cheerfully, "and your arm and leg too, niisan."

-20 minutes later-

The barking of Dean, the Rockbell's dog, could be heard from a distance.

"Seems that someone is already welcoming us." Edward said, noticing Dean was running towards them from the Rockbell's house, the second home for the Elric brothers.

A moment later, Dean was circling around Al's feet affectionately and barking excitedly.

Al bent down and greeted Dean with one hand, while cradling Edward in his other arm with great caution. Dean put his front legs onto Al's outstretching arm, trying to reach the older brother.

"Hello, Dean. How are you doing?" Edward gently stroke Dean's head. The dog was a family to the brothers and they were very happy to see it well and healthy.

When they reached the house, the first thing they saw was Winry's grandma standing at the door of the house, with a warm and welcoming smile on her face.

"Got into trouble again, kids?" grandma stated.

"Well... ah... yeah... sort of..." Edward answered, embarrassed. They almost always return to the Rockbell's after some major trouble.

"Ed! Al!" came Winry's voice.

The brothers felt a chill running down their spines at the voice. "Hel... hello, Winry..." they said in a very stiffed voice.

"What have you two done to yourselves?" Winry came running out of the house to greet the brothers. "What happened to you, Ed? Why is Al carrying you? What have you done to my auto mail this time?" Winry said in a suspicious tone.

"Ah... well... it's a long story..." Edward looked away, avoiding Winry's almost murderous look.

"Let's get inside first." Grandma started walking into the house. "It is cold out here."

Al gently put Edward on a chair near the fireplace. Though he could not feel the weather, he did not miss Edward's slight shivering when they came along from the train station.

Edward sighed in content when the warmth of the fire embraced him. But the comfort did not last long.

"Ed..." Winry murmured with a deadly look on her face. "Let me see my auto mail."

Edward swallowed hard in fear. Hesitantly, with the help of Al, Edward slowly took off the long robe he was wearing, revealing the badly damaged auto mail and the bandaged wounds.

Edward heard the sound of a deep inhale from Winry. He closed his eyes and waited nervously for a deadly hit on his head which usually comes along.

But it did not come.

Carefully, Edward opened his eyes. Instead of the usual angry face, sadness and worries was written over Winry's face. A drop of tear slid down her pale cheek.

"Win... Winry... Why are you cyring?" Edward asked nervously. "I... I am sorry for breaking the auto mail. I didn't mean to..."

"You stupid pig, it is not about the auto mail!" Winry said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Look at you, why can't you ever take better care of yourself? You better stay still now. I am going to get you some medicine and new bandages. Al, help me get some warm clean water. We need to clean your brother's wounds. Come on! Don't just stand there! Move it!"

"Ye... yes, madam!" Al nervously replied and rushed to the kitchen to fetch the water.

-30 minutes later-

After cleaning the wounds with water, Winry started applying salve on Edward's wounds in order to reduce the soreness. Al stood beside Winry, helping Winry in caring his brother.

Grandma retrieved to her room 15 minutes ago to sleep, trusting her grand-daughter and Al to taking care of Edward.

The three remained quiet. It was Edward who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Ah... Winry?" Edward carefully checked on any change in Winry's facial expression. "Are you still mad at me for breaking your auto mail? I... I am really sorry. I didn't mean to. The opponents were very strong. I am sorry, Winry."

No response.

Edward sent a nervous look to Al. Al shook his head, not knowing what to say.

Edward took a deep breath and gathered more courage. "Winry, please, I am very sorry for breaking the auto mail. If you want to beat me up, please do so. I will not complain about it."

"You silly thing." Winry whispered softly.

Edward and Al looked at each other in surprise. They had rarely heard of such gentleness in Winry's voice.

"I am worried about you, silly Ed." Winry said as she continued to apply salve on Edward's wounds. "I can always fix the auto mail. But it hurts me to see any of you two brothers getting injured. You two are like my own blood-brothers. I don't want you two to get hurt. Please promise me you won't do anything stupid and get hurt in the future, OK?"

Edward and Al felt a wave of warmth washing over them at Winry's words. They knew the Rockbell's had always been welcoming them. But now they knew that they were part of the family, something they thought they would forever lost since the moment they burnt down their home.

"Now tell me, what happened to you two?" Winry asked.

"Well, we..." Al was about to explain everything to Winry before Edward cut in.

"We are both very tired, Winry." Edward interrupted, faking a yawn. "How about if we explain it to you tomorrow?"

"OK." Winry reluctantly agreed, disappointment on her face. "But you have to promise that you will tell me everything."

"No problem." Edward replied.

"Also, Ed," Winry patted Edward's auto mail leg, "I made some minor repairs to your auto mail leg. It should be able to support you for a while. I will help you to install the spare auto mail leg tomorrow."

"Thanks, Winry," Edward smiled, "for everything."

Winry smiled back and went to her room.

Edward and Al switched off the light and went to the guest room.

Once sure that Winry was out of eavesdrop, Al asked, "Niisan, why didn't you let me explain it to Winry?"

"Because if we tell her that we will try to restore your body with the philosopher's stone, she may think it is dangerous and try to stop us." Edward said as he put on his red jacket. "Al, I will restore your body tonight."

End of Chapter 1

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Please feel free to review and comment!


	2. Chapter 2 Transmutation

**New life**

By Gozilla

-----------------------

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!

Please excuse my poor English. -

Reviews are most welcomed!!

Enjoy!!

-----------------------

A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who read and reviewed the story!! Please feel free to review and comment!

Summary: This is an A/U fic. The Elric brothers had finally found the philosopher's stone. In the transmutation to restore Al's body, something went very wrong. Will the Elric brothers live to start their new lives?

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-Two hours later-

After making sure both Winry and her grandma were asleep, the two brothers quietly sneaked out from the window and went to a deserted mansion not far from the Rockbell's house.

They quickly drew a large complex alchemist pattern on the floor and put a tray containing all the 'ingredients' for an teenage human body near the centre of the pattern.

With Edward's instruction, Al lied in the centre of the pattern. "Niisan? Are we going to succeed?" Al asked nervously.

Edward looked at Al and smiled confidently, "Yes, Al, we _will_ succeed. I will make sure that."

"Hm." Al nodded. He trusted his brother with all his heart.

Edward stood at the edge of the pattern and took out the philosopher's stone from his pocket. He looked at the small stone which they had spent the past six year searching. He then turned to look at the armoured body of his brother. Fire of determination burnt inside Edward's eyes as he clapped his hands together, with the philosopher's stone between his hands.

Flashes after flashes of lightning filled the large living room of a deserted mansion. The alchemist pattern emitted blindingly bright lights. The philosopher's stone, on the other hand, shone with eerie red light.

With his eyes closed, Edward concentrated all his energy to guide the tremendous power hidden in the red stone towards the alchemist pattern.

The reaction continued for several minutes before Edward suddenly sensed a familiar sensation over his body. He immediately remembered it was the same feeling he had just before the rebound of energy during their attempt to transmute their mother seven years ago.

Horrified, Edward opened his eye to check on the philosopher's stone. To his ultimate fear, he saw the philosopher's stone became to dim and a crack as thin as a hair was developing across the stone.

The philosopher's stone is not powerfully enough to complete the process!! Edward instantly realised. He turned to look at alchemist pattern. It was still emitting bright lights, though not as strong as it initially did. In the middle, the 'ingredients' were having some violent reactions with Al's armoured body.

Edward knew that, if the reaction stops now, Al would probably become a half-human and half-monster creature, just like his mother, his nightmare.

I will not let this happen again! Edward shook his head in determination. He knew what he must do.

Edward took off his jacket and tore away the bandages over his torso. He bit on his index finger, creating a bleeding wound. He used his blood to draw three alchemist patterns on his body, one on his forehead, one on his chest and one on his stomach.

Edward clapped his hands and put them over the alchemist pattern on his chest. "As I said before, take whatever you want." he whispered, "Take my arm, my leg, my heart, or even my life. Just don't take Al away. He is my only brother. Don't take him away."

With that, the alchemist patterns on Edward's body began to emit bright red light. The previous dimming philosopher's stone began to shine bright again.

"Come back, my brother."

-----------------------

The first feeling Al had was the cold. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around his body, trying to retain as much body heat as possible. Suddenly, he realized that it was the very first time he could feel the elements for a long time.

Al quickly opened his eyes and sat up from the cold stone floor. Amused, he looked at his now fleshy body, no more armour. He smiled broadly and checked his body.

"I am human again!" he cried happily. He stood and found that, although he was shorter than the time he was in the armoured body, he was significantly taller comparing to the time he and his brother tried to restore their mother.

Thinking of his brother, Al looked around excitedly for his brother. "Niisan! Niisan! We succeeded! Look at me! I am restored! Niisan! We succeeded..."

Al's smile froze as he saw a bloodied body lying just outside of the alchemist pattern.

"Niisan!!!"

Al rushed to hold his unconscious brother in his arms. Edward was lying in the middle of a pool of his own blood.

To his horror, Al found that Edward's remaining limbs, his left arm and right leg, were missing. The wounds were bleeding heavily. Frantically, Al took a few pieces of the bandages lying nearby and tied them tightly around the wounds, trying to slow down the bleeding.

"Niisan! Niisan! Wake up! Please!" Al almost shouted in fear.

Edward slowly opened his eyes.

"Al?" Edward whispered weakly.

"Niisan! What happened?" Al said through his tearful eyes.

Edward ignored the question and looked at Al's restored body through his clouded eyes and smiled. He touched Al' face with his auto mail hand, "I guess we have finally made it..."

"Niisan! What happened? How... how come..."

"The philosopher's stone was not powerful enough to completely restore your body." Edward whispered, smiling bitterly. He was quickly losing his consciousness due to the massive blood loss. "So I added a little bit of price to..." he was unable to finish the sentence as he threw up a mouthful of blood. "I guess those greedy bastards took some of my internal organs too..." he said as he finally gave in to the welcoming darkness.

"Niisan! NIISAN!!!!!"

-----------------------

Winry and her grandma were woken by the shouting of a strange, and yet familiar, voice approaching the house. Just as they had got up and went to the living room, the door flew opened.

A tall and slim youth, with extraordinarily pale skin, golden-brown eyes and hair, stood at the door, panting heavily. He was wearing clothes which was obviously being put on in extreme rush. (A/N: of course the brothers got some clothes ready for Al before they perform the ritual -)

But what horrified the two was the bloodied body the youth was holding. Edward lied unconscious in the youth's arms, with his remaining real arm and leg missing, and blood all over his body.

"Grandma! Winry!" the youth begged, "Please, please help niisan!!"

"Al... Alphonse?" grandma asked. Winry was too shocked and confused to say anything.

"Yes, it's me, Alphonse." Al answered. "Niisan had successfully restored my body. But... but he paid the price with his arm, leg and some of his internal organs. Please, grandma, save my brother! I can't lose him!"

"Winry! Al!" grandma shouted, forcing Winry out of the shock. "Go and help me get the medicine and lots of warm clean water. We need to clean dress Edward's wounds. Come on! Don't just stand there! Move it!"

-----------------------

"What are you doing, Winry?" grandma shouted.

"I am taking off the auto mail limbs from Edward!" Winry replied nervously. She was still in the state of shock, but she had mostly recovered her logical mind. She was about to take off the damaged auto mail arm from Edward's body. "The heavy auto mail will burden Ed's body. I need to take them off or they may kill him!"

"No, leave them on."

"Grandma!" Winry shouted, her eyes filled with fearful tears. "Ed is dying! We must try everything to save him!"

"You might just kill him by taking the auto mail limbs away." grandma said calmly. "What do you think will happen if Ed wakes up and find that he has lost all his limbs? Though I am sure he is well aware of the fact, we can save him from the ultimate blow by allowing him to at least move around with his auto mail limbs. And we can't afford to give him the shock of connecting the auto mail limbs in his weakened condition."

"Grandma..." Winry looked at the floor, sadness filled her heart. "But... what if he couldn't survive this..."

"Don't worry, Winry." grandma said gently. "We all knew how strong Ed's mind is, even when he was only 12. He will survive this. He will."

--------------------

Edward slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by the bright morning sun. He tried to raise his left arm to block the sun but found no response.

Oh, yes, I have paid the price with my remaining arm and leg left... he slowly remembered the incidence. To his surprise, he found that he could move his right arm, though it was almost too heavy for him to lift in his weakened condition. To surprise him more, he found that the auto mail arm was basically repaired.

"Niisan! You are awake!" came a familiar voice.

Edward turned to the source of the voice and found a golden-haired youth, like himself, standing beside his bed. "Al..." Edward couldn't help but smile. It was his dream came true – his brother's body was restored.

Before Edward could say another word, sharp pain exploded inside him. Involuntarily, he curled into a ball as an attempt to block out the pain.

"Niisan! What is going on?" Al was frightened.

Edward threw out a mouthful of blood and started coughing violently.

"Niisan!" Al cried. "I am going to get Winry and grandma!" he said as he turned to the door. He stopped as he felt someone holding his arm.

It was Edward.

"No, Al... please... stay... with me..." Edward said weakly between the violent coughing.

Al was tore between staying with his brother and going to get help. Eventually, he decided to stay. Al sat on the edge of the bed and supported his brother to sit in order to help him to breath. Al let Edward's chin resting on his shoulder while he started massaging Edward's back, trying to smooth the coughing.

Gradually, Edward's coughing ceased, leaving him breathless and exhausted. Al gently helped Edward to lie on the bed.

A sheet of sweat covered Edward's face. He panted heavily as he struggled to draw air to his oxygen-starved body. It took him a few minutes before he was able to breathe normally. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Al crying.

"Why are you crying, Al?" Edward asked, worried. "Are you all right? Are you hurt? Are you in pain?"

"No, niisan, I am not hurt."

"Then... why are you crying?"

"I am worried about you, niisan." Al replied, wiping the tears. "You have been in a coma for a whole week. I thought... I thought you might never wake up again."

"A week?" Edward could not believe that he had been unconscious for so long. Everything, especially the transmutation, seemed like yesterday to him.

Edward noticed that Al was still sobbing quietly. "Silly Al, don't be a child. Look, I am fine and awake. There is nothing to worry about."

"No, niisan, you are not fine!" Al suddenly exploded. "Not only that you did not use the philosopher's stone to restore your arm and leg, you have lost your remaining limbs and some of your internal organs because of me! It is all my fault!" tears starting to roll down Al's pale cheek again.

Edward was surprised by the sudden explosion of his brother. He smiled weakly and said, "Al, come here."

Al approached his brother obediently. Putting his auto mail hand behind Al's head, Edward gently pushed his brother's face towards his, until their foreheads touched another's.

Feeling the body heat of his brother, Edward closed his eyes and smiled. "It is not your fault, Al. This is my choice. Ever since our failure in transmuting mother, my only goal is to fully restore your body. It was my sin that made you suffered. I was the one who should have lost my whole body, not you. There is no difference in having one or two more auto mail limbs. The most important thing is that you have your body back."

Al was speechless. He always thought that his brother had been fighting so hard for the restoration of _both_ of their bodies, not just his.

"Thank you, niisan." Al could not stop the tears. "For everything you have done for me."

"Al, I am glad to live to see you in whole again." Edward whispered. It was then another wave of excruciating pain assaulted him from the inside, which was much more severe than the previous ones. He let go of Al and curled up tightly.

"Niisan!!" Al shouted, thoroughly scared.

Edward had never experienced such intensive pain. It was like he was being ripped apart from the inside. Before he could stop it, he coughed a mouthful of blood, spilling over Al's face and clothes.

"Niisan!!" Al could do nothing but to watch his brother suffering in front of his eyes. He held Edward closely to his body, wishing and praying for the pain to go.

"No..." Edward weakly pushed Al away. "Blood... over... you..."

"I don't care!" Al shouted as he cried, "Don't leave me, niisan. Please don't leave me. Please..."

"I am sorry... Al..." Edward whispered as he lost hold of the last consciousness, "I am sorry..." He said as he went completely limp in his brother's embrace.

"No... niisan... please... don't leave me..."Al's heartbreaking urge echoed across the room.

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End of Chapter 2

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Please feel free to review and comment!


	3. Chapter 3 New Life

**New life**

By Gozilla

-----------------------

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!

Please excuse my poor English. -

Reviews are most welcomed!!

Enjoy!!

-----------------------

A/N: Thank you so much again to all of you who read and reviewed the story!! Here comes the last chapter of the story. Please feel free to review and comment!

Summary: This is an A/U fic. The Elric brothers had finally found the philosopher's stone. In the transmutation to restore Al's body, something went very wrong. Will the Elric brothers live to start their new lives?

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-One year later-

A tall and lean youth walked along the countryside path. His golden hair and golden-brown eyes reflected the bright sunlight. He held a bunch of flower in one hand and a suitcase in the other. A few moments later, he approached a two-storey house on a low hill.

A dog ran towards the youth, barking excitedly. It circled around the youth's leg affectionately.

"Hello, Dean." The youth said, gently stroking the dog's head.

"Al!" came a cheerful female voice.

"Hi Winry!" Al smiled broadly, "How are you? Sorry that I am late. There were a few minor problems that I need to fix before I can come back."

"No worries, Al." Winry stood on the balcony and smiled warmly, "Welcome back."

"Thanks Winry." Al's smile slowly faded from his face and replaced by a look of sadness. "Winry, it has been exactly one year since niisan..."

Sadness appeared on Winry's face. "Yes, it has been a year already..."

Silence.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came.

"Al!!!"

A figure shot through from the main door of the Rockbell's house and started throwing punches and kicks at Al.

"Niisan! Stop it!" Al shouted as he blocked the quick and hard punches and kicks from the opponent. Suddenly, a kick to his leg knocked Al off balance and he trembled. He then felt himself being up-side down and being threw to the ground.

"I win!" Edward stood and raised his auto mail arms to the air in triumphant.

"It's not fair." Al struggled to stand up as he massaged his arms and legs, "Niisan! You have auto mail limbs that won't hurt while I..." Al stopped as he immediately regretted what he was about to say. "I am sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"No worries, Al." Edward said cheerfully. But Al did not miss a shadow of sadness flashed through his brother's eyes.

A punch hit Edward's head.

"What's the meaning of this, Winry?" Edward shouted. "Can't you be more gentle like a _real _lady?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that you should not make such big movements??!!" Winry yelled angrily.

"I am all right!" Edward smiled broadly, waving his auto mail arms and legs, "Look, I told you I am..." he stopped abruptly and knelt to the ground, with a hand over his mouth.

"Niisan!" Al knelt beside his brother and held him supportively. Winry also knelt beside the brothers, deeply concerned.

Edward painfully threw up a mouthful of blood and panted heavily.

"Niisan!" Al cried in horror, tears threatening to escape from his eyes.

"Don't worry, Al. I am getting used to it now. There is nothing to worry about." Edward said as his breathing became less heavy, with sweat covering his forehead. Despite all these, he smiled broadly, "Welcome back, Al."

"You two take him to his bed and let him rest." Grandma said sighing in defeat, standing at the door. "And welcome back, Al."

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After making sure his brother was clean and asleep, Al retrieved from Edward's room and joined Winry and grandma in the living room.

"How is niisan doing?" Al asked, deeply worried.

"He is making a lot of progress during the half year you are away." Winry replied, "We told him over and over again that there is no rush to install the auto mail limbs and that he should wait until he is fully recovered. But he just did not listen."

"The auto mail operation was a success." Winry sighed, "But the pain and the side-effects of the operation put Ed on a fever for almost three months. He kept calling out your name in his feverish nightmare. I guess the missing organs made things worse for him than the last time he had the operation. But he endured all that without any complaint."

Al sat in silence.

"We have just put on his new auto mail limbs two days ago." Winry continued, "He was in so much pain that he was unable to get off bed for two whole days. What you have just seen was the first time he got out of the bed since the installation."

"Niisan never likes being restrained." Al said, sadness over his face, "I can understand how he felt. He wants to regain his mobility and be freed as soon as possible. He suffers all these because of me."

"Ed has a strong mind of his own." Grandma said, smoking her pipe, "There is nothing you can do about it. So stop burdening yourself with the incidence. It was not your fault. Al, you have to be strong. You are Edward's mental support and motivation to go on. Stop blaming yourself."

Al said nothing but to stare at his feet.

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Edward woke up to find that it was already night time.

I guess I have scared Al again... he thought guiltily.

Edward shifted as he tried to find a more comfortable position when someone called him.

"Niisan?" came Al's timid voice, "Are you awake?"

Edward was taken by surprised. He turned to look at the source of the voice and saw his brother sitting in a corner of the room.

"Al? How long have you been sitting there?" Edward said uncertainly, "I am sorry for scaring you. I was..."

"No need to apologise, niisan." Al said guiltily, "I should be the one apologising. I am the one causing your suffering and I was not there for you when you needed me most. I am sorry."

Silence.

Suddenly, Edward laughed and broke the silence.

Al looked in surprise.

"Al, why are we kept on apologising to each other?" Edward said, putting a hand on Al's head, "We are brothers, remember?"

"But..." Al said, heavy guilt still hanging over his heart, "You suffered all these because of me. And I left you suffer alone when you needed me..."

"It was nothing." Edward cut in, "And you were away only to help the people in greater needs of your alchemist power. You are only fulfilling the duties of an alchemist, something I failed to do over the past years. You are rectifying my sin for being the military dog for so many years."

"Niisan..."

"And don't you dare feeling guilty about my automail limbs." Edward gave Al a cheerful Edward-brand smile, "Now that I have arms and legs stronger than yours, I will beat you in every fight from now on."

Edward held out a fist in the air towards Al, "Al, we have a new life ahead of us. Stop looking back to the past. Let's move on together. Just like we always did."

Al nodded, truly smiling ever since the restoration of his body. He gently hit Edward's outstretching fist with his own, "Yes, niisan, let's move on together."

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End of Chapter 3

That's it for the story! Hope you enjoyed it!

Please feel free to review and comment!


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